Category: Uncategorized

A BIG congratulations to Gabriella Flinn for earning an engineering co-op position at Vertex in Providence, Rhode Island. Gabby will join the Device Immunology team led by Tania Baltazar where she will continue the development of cutting-edge solutions for individuals battling type 1 diabetes. Although we are sad to lose Gabby this spring, we are […]

A HUGE congratulations to Natalia for earning an engineering co-op position at Edwards Lifesciences in Irvine, California. Natalia will be joining a team where she will continue the development of cutting-edge solutions for individuals battling cardiovascular disease. Although we are sad to lose Natalia this spring, we are excited to see the unique perspective she […]

In December, the Sharma lab celebrated the graduation of our fifth PhD graduate, Jessica Aldrich, and a superstar undergraduate student, Jillian Jacek, during the 2024 Fall Commencement. On a beautiful Florida day, Dr. Sharma was able to hood Dr. Aldrich during the graduate ceremony hosted at the O’Connell center! Congratulations, Jessica! Thank you for all […]

The Sharma Lab celebrated the end of a great semester with a White Elephant Gift Exchange Party at Dr.Sharma’s house where we all brought food to share that reminded us of home! Also, to whoever said Florida was way too warm for a fire– we happily proved you wrong. We hope that everyone has a […]

During the annual BME Holiday party, Suzanne Lightsey was awarded the Graduate Student Excellence Award for her contributions to the J Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering. This award is given to the registered BME graduate student who has excelled in her coursework, research, service to the department, and leadership– all of which Suzanne […]

Congratulations to Jillian Jacek, who successfully presented her undergraduate honor’s thesis on December 9th 2024! The title of her defense was “Evaluating the Chondroprotective Effects of MnO2” and reflected her work conducted as an undergraduate researcher in the Sharma Lab. Jillian has been a member of the Sharma lab since 2022, and will be graduating […]

Dr. Sharma was recently featured in the Gainesville Sun and UF News. Please see an excerpt from the article below: Equipped with a cutting-edge nanoparticle imaging technology, federal funds and a quest to quash pain, researchers at the University of Florida are working to revolutionize osteoarthritis treatments. Central to the research is the Magnetic Particle […]

On November 6th, Jessica Aldrich successfully defended her PhD, titled ‘Advancing a Reactive Oxygen Species Scavenging Nanomaterial Platform to Target Oxidative Stress In Osteoarthritis’! This work is the culmination of the last five and a half years of Jessica’s work in both the Sharma Lab and the Allen Lab. While at the University of Florida, […]

This Halloween, the Sharma Lab partnered with the Allen lab to recreate Middle Earth in the Lord of the Rings. The Sharma Lab was transformed into the Shire and the Mirkwood Forrest lined the hallway that connected to Mordor (aka the Allen lab). This year’s theme idea came from Shane Priester, a PhD student in […]

At the end of October, Sharma Lab undergraduate students, Natalia and Victoria, attended the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) National Convention in Anaheim, CA! SHPE National Convention serves as the country’s largest, annual gathering of Hispanic STEM students and professionals. The convention brings together thousands of the best and brightest Hispanic scientists, mathematicians, and […]

On October 22nd, Suzanne presented her research at the main campus of the National Institute of Health (NIH) via both a poster and a talk. Her talk on “Engineering Hydrogels to Investigate the Role of Extracellular Matrix Cues on Natural Killer Cell Functions” was featured in the Cancer Therapies and Technologies session. NIH is the […]

From October 23-26, 2024, the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) held its annual meeting in Baltimore, Maryland. Suzanne, Gabby, and Dr. Sharma traveled to participate in the conference. Gabby Once in Seattle, they were able to reconnect with former undergraduate students, Ethan To and Benjamin Kaufman! Gabby was a member of a team of biomedical engineering […]

On September 23rd, the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering held its annual graduate research day. This celebration holds special significance as it coincides with the birthdate of Dr. J. Crayton Pruitt Sr., whose vision and generosity were instrumental in founding our department. Dr. Pruitt was always passionate about student achievements and research, […]

On September 19th, Suzanne traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to present her research at the 2024 Society for Biomaterials (SFB) Southeast Symposium hosted by the Georgia Institute of Technology. This two-day meeting showcased exceptional research presentations and plenary speakers from various parallel regional symposia. After presenting her research, Suzanne made a quick trip to the Atlanta […]

This fall, Tomas Clavijo-Garcia, a second-year Master’s student, worked part-time at Amend Surgical, Inc. as a Product Development Intern. Amend Surgical, Inc. is a medical device company in Gainesville, FL. They are dedicated to the discovery, development, and manufacture of breakthrough medical devices. Specifically, they are developing a platform of strong adhesive barriers. As a […]

Mattie McKinzie graduated with her Master’s degree this past August 2024. We look forward to following her work and impact in the upcoming years! Congratulations!

This year, the Sharma Lab trekked across campus to Herbert Wertheim Laboratory for Engineering Excellence to host a lab retreat. Our lab retreats comprise of scientific sessions where each lab member gives a presentation. This year, the focus was working in interdisciplinary teams to propose new projects that incorporated resources available at the university of […]

This summer, Nicholas Ossi disseminated his summer research through the Student Science Training Program (SSTP). Nicholas joined the lab in June as a part of this 6-week research program for high school students. Over the summer, Nicholas investigated colon cancer cell growth in hydrogels engineered to replicate aspects of the solid tumor microenvironment under PhD student Suzanne […]

The 2024 Gordon Conference (GRC) on Signal Transduction by Engineered Extracellular Matrices (STEEM), featured themes that included: ECM regulation of cell death mechanisms; co-evolution with cancer and neurodegeneration; the synthesis of living material environments and microphysiological systems; effects of sex and ancestry on cell-ECM signaling; and integration of systems biology, screening, and multi-scale modeling tools […]

On May 26th, Dr. Sharma traveled across the world to Daegu, South Korea to share our latest research findings in osteoarthritis. The World Biomaterials Congress is a world-wide event where the participating experts can gather and share the latest information and knowledge in the diverse areas of biomaterials research. The venue for the event, Daegu, […]

The Sharma Lab closed out the academic year with donuts and cookies to celebrate our undergraduate student’s many accomplishments. A huge congratulations to Angels Vasquez who was accepted into the University of Virginia’s Summer Research Internship Program, Gabriella Flinn who will be staying in the Sharma Lab to pursue her Master’s, and Rachel Griffin-Cohan who […]

In April, Jessica Aldrich, a PhD student in the Sharma Lab, presented her work at the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) World Congress in Vienna, Austria! OARSI is the premier international organization for scientists and health care professionals focused on the prevention and treatment of osteoarthritis. At this conference, Jessica shared her research on the […]

The Attributes of a Gator Engineer Awards are bestowed annually to graduate and undergraduate students who best exemplify the attributes that Gator Engineers are charged with having upon the completion of their degrees. Attributes are among the highest honors within the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering and are open to all students within the college. […]

In the Spring, Sharma Lab Master’s students, Tomas Clavijo-Garcia and Matthew Rexroad, coordinated a BME Field Day through the BME Graduate Student Council. The field day had a wide range of events, including cornhole, volleyball, and tug-of-war, showcasing our student’s many talents. In addition, it allowed faculty, students, and staff to connect and have a […]